But Detroit was once the fourth-largest city in America, and in 1960 Detroit had the highest per-capita income in the entire nation. Below are nine facts with accompanying pictures of Detroit (in its heyday and presently) that show just what happens when a city slides into economic ruin.

1) $18.5 billion
That’s how much debt Detroit has piled up. If the city does go into bankruptcy, there’s been talk of selling off at least $2.5 billion in artwork held by the Detroit Institute of Arts to pay off creditors.

The 3.5 million square-foot Packard Automotive Plant was designed by Albert Kahn & completed in 1911.

Packard Automotive Plant, nowadays.

2) $1,000
Detroit residents pay the highest local taxes on a per person basis compared to other Michigan towns, a recent study has found. Detroit revenue from property, income and other local taxes, tops $1,000 per person — while other Michigan cities like Dearborn and Ann Arbor, collect $800 per resident.

Evening rush hour.

Urban prairie.

3) $326.6 million

But even with high taxes Detroit has seen a ballooning budget deficit of nearly $326.6 million at end of the last fiscal year. The city has run a budget deficit every year since 2003.

Michigan Theater, now a car park.

4) 700,000
In 1950, Detroit was home to more than 1.8 million people, but since then the population has shrunk to roughly 700,000 people.

Michigan Central Station

5) 53 percent
Only 53 percent of property owners paid their 2011 property taxes.

Downtown Detroit when streetcars still roamed.

6) 16 percent
In April of this year, Detroit’s unemployment rate of 16 percent stood at over twice the national average.

Fisher Body Plant 21 in better times.

The plant today.

7) 2,137
There were 2,137 violent crimes per 100,000 residents committed in 2011, more than five times the national average and more than enough to make Detroit America’s Most Dangerous City for the fourth year in a row.

Before & after composite photo of Lewis Cass Technical High School.

8) 40 percent
As of April 2013, approximately 40 percent of Detroit’s street lights were not functioning.

12th Street

Hastings Street

9) 80,000
By some reports there are more than 80,000 abandoned houses, factories and businesses in Detroit.

William Livingstone House on Eliot St. in Brush Park in better days.

The house in 2005. It’s since been demolished.

As the city’s new state-appointed emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, notes, Detroit’s downfall didn’t happen overnight. “Financial mismanagement, a shrinking population, a dwindling tax base and other factors over the past 45 years have brought Detroit to the brink of financial and operational ruin,” he said, according to Reuters.

That said, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Young entrepreneurs are being drawn to downtown Detroit with the promise of cheap rent and plenty of space. As an article in Fast Company notes:

“Detroit has often sought salvation in big solutions…nothing has worked. But the city’s depression – and the depressed real estate prices that came with it – created opportunities. And opportunity lures entrepreneurs. The startup types…and the ones with lots of money.”

Detroit offers the perfect example of what happens when you over-spend, over-tax, ignore basic economics, and avoid making tough decisions.

Now, Detroit’s salvation lies in entrepreneurs and sound economic growth. Washington, are you listening?